Nigeria’s women national team, Super Falcons’ coach, Randy Waldrum has confessed that he is worried about fatigue and low level of physicality in his squad, heading into their potentially explosive clash with USA at the WNT Summer Series Invitational Tournament.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, with both sides set to clash in their first ever international friendly on Wednesday at the brand new O2 Arena in Houston, Texas, USA to cap the 2021 Series in grand style, the American soccer tactician admitted his side will have their hands full.
While exuding optimism that the Falcons’ come-from-behind 3-3 draw with Portugal in their second match of the tournament, following a 1-0 loss to Jamaica in their first game, should boost their morale heading into the ultimate clash with Tam USA, Waldrum posited that his players have to be at their very best.
The former coach of Houston Dash FC added that his lasses must be up and running from the very first blast of the referee’s whistle, while also warning that the Falcons’ defence must shape up in order to avoid humiliation from the FIFA Women’s World Cup champions.
He conceded that his defence was again exposed against Portugal on Sunday, as they let in an own goal and gave away possession easily, two days after they let in a soft goal in their opening game against Jamaica.
While acknowledging that his back-four must be better organized against the Americans, Waldrum concluded with a verdict that his players will all have to be in better physical shape in order to survive the big challenge they are sure to face against the world champions.
Waldrum posited: “We have to clean things defensively because if we don’t, we will be in some real trouble with the US. We have to correct our lapses because the US team can expose you in so many different ways.
“One thing that concerns me is the fatigue and where we are physically with some of our players, but those are things we have to manage. We have to play at higher level and these games against three good teams will challenge and expose us.
“The target is to move outside of Africa, we have to make Nigeria a world power. It’s not just to qualify, but go far into World Cups and consistently being there.”
